Check, Clean, Dry
Topic:
Sustainability
Organisation:
New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and
Forestry (MAF)
Location:
New Zealand
Dates:
2004 to ongoing
Budget:
NZ$4.55 million (2005 to 2008)
Overview
Following the detection of the invasive algae,
didymo, in New Zealand’s South Island, the
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s
biosecurity communications team developed a
social marketing campaign aimed at preventing
its spread. Freshwater users were asked to do
the following when moving between waterways:
CHECK equipment and remove any
obvious debris
Thoroughly CLEAN all equipment that had
been in contact with the water
DRY it thoroughly and then wait for at least
48 hours
Website:
www.biosecurity.govt.nz
Contact:
Matthew Thorpe (Programme Manager)
Email:
Matthew.thorpe@maf.govt.nz
This campaign includes: advertising; funding to
district and regional councils for local activities;
distributing resources and tools including spray
bottles, detergent sachets and other
promotional giveaways; and practical
demonstrations at events.
2009/10 results:
The spread of didymo has slowed and has
not been reported in the North Island
88 per cent of high risk freshwater users
were able to identify an action they had
taken to help stop the spread of didymo
Of those, 71 per cent always, and 21 per
cent sometimes, Check, Clean, Dry
Overall 22 per cent of respondents Check,
Clean, Dry more often than they did last
year
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New Zealand’s Ministry of Agriculture and
Forestry biosecurity group (MAFBNZ) was set
up in 2004 and faced a major challenge when
the invasive microscopic algae, didymosphenia
geminata (also known as didymo, or
colloquially as ‘rock snot’) was first detected in
New Zealand in November that year. It was
found in the lower Waiau-Mararoa catchment at
the very south of New Zealand’s South Island.
To coordinate this work, a Didymo Long-Term
Management programme was set up, which
would be overseen by a Steering Group of
representatives from the different regions and
different stakeholder organisations to provide
cross-sector governance and coordination. The
Steering Group would also work alongside
partner organisations to ensure the outcome
and objectives for didymo long-term
management were achieved.
MAFBNZ obtained ring-fenced funding in 2004
for the social marketing campaign, which would
be available until 2011/12.
New Zealand is known for its iconic glistening
waterways that house wildlife, are areas of
recreation for New Zealanders and tourists,
and form a key part of New Zealand’s identity.
While not a significant health risk for humans,
didymo threatens all of this, as pristine
waterways become murky as they are filled
with thick brown layers of the algae, which
covers plants and rocks. Didymo can form
large blooms on the bottom of streams, rivers
and lakes, destroying the habitats on which a
number of organisms depend for survival.
MAFBNZ needed to act decisively to stop the
spread of didymo across New Zealand,
particularly to the North Island. Due to the lack
of knowledge about didymo itself, a didymo
science programme was set up to research
ways to identify and detect didymo, how it
spreads and how it could be eradicated or
controlled. The programme found that didymo
cannot be eradicated and so work had to be
done to minimise its spread. However, this was
not going to be easy. The programme
discovered that didymo can be spread through
a single drop of water, which can contain up to
1,000 didymo cells. Subsequently, a social
marketing campaign was needed to encourage
those who came in contact with the waterways
to adopt behaviours to minimise didymo cells
being transported from one waterway to
another.
Following research conducted by the didymo
science programme, New Zealand’s National
Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
(NIWA) released a report in February 2005
outlining its research into methods for
containing didymo through decontamination of
equipment or clothing that came into contact
with fresh water. The report showed
decontamination was relatively easy and could
be conducted by waterway users using
everyday household products such as nappy
cleaner, antiseptics and detergent.
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and move between waterways (rivers, lakes)
either between the North and South Island or in
the same Island’. The following four
activities/audiences were identified as likely
high-risk freshwater users and therefore
primary audiences for the campaign:
Fishermen (anglers, eelers, whitebaiters)
Kayakers
Jet boaters
Weekend or pleasure boaters
These include both New Zealanders and
visitors to New Zealand.
Secondary audiences, who would also need to
be considered, were identified as:
Behavioural goals
The evidence produced by the didymo science
programme pointed to one behavioural solution
to hindering the spread of didymo: freshwater
users need to decontaminate clothing and
equipment between waterways. Specifically
they needed to:
CHECK equipment and remove any
obvious debris;
Thoroughly CLEAN all equipment that had
been in contact with the water with the most
practical treatment (such as detergent,
bleach, hot water); and
DRY it thoroughly, and then wait for at least
48 hours
Segmentation
The Nielson Company conducted six focus
groups with freshwater users across the South
and North Islands. Based on this research
high-risk freshwater users were defined as
those who have ‘taken part in waterway
activities four times or more in the last year,
Trampers (hikers)
Multi-sporters (such as mountain runners,
as opposed to triathletes)
School children
Swimmers
Drivers (usually of four-wheel drives)
Primary research
Following the focus groups to identify high-risk
freshwater users, surveys were conducted with
the four primary target audiences in both the
South Island and the North Island to
understand the target audiences’ attitudes and
behaviours, and barriers and motivators to
adopting the desired behaviour.
The research drew on three theories of
behaviour change when assessing answers to
the following questions in the surveys:
How close are the audiences to making a
particular behaviour change?
(Transtheoretical Model, otherwise known
as Stages of Change Theory)
What factors are influencing the audience’s
stage of behaviour change? (Social
Cognitive Theory)
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How can these factors and the audiences
be moved in the desired direction?
(Exchange Theory)
To Check, Clean, Dry was perceived as
time consuming and onerous
Other barriers identified were:
The surveys identified significant differences
between groups in terms of their awareness,
understanding and attitudes towards the threat
of didymo, and in terms of the barriers and
motivators to changing their behaviour. This
allowed the researchers to identify groups of
users with similar attitudes and behaviours in
regards to:
The role and importance of the natural
environment in their overall experience
Their attitude towards personal role and
contribution in looking after the health of
waterways and the natural environment
Where they live: North Island versus South
Island
As such, three segments emerged:
1. ‘Guardians’ – Those who saw themselves
as safeguarding the environment and
waterways, because they see them as
precious
2. ‘Taking for granted’ – Those who take for
granted the environment and do not want to
know or understand hygiene issues, and
see waterways as purely recreational
facilities
3. ‘Move on’ – Those who do not care about
the water quality and see it as inevitable
that it will deteriorate
Worries about the effect of using cleaning
solutions on the environment
Worries about the effect cleaning solution
could have on equipment, such as fishing
flies and bicycles
The availability and expense of cleaning
solution
Motivators
All segments were motivated by the personal
consequences the spread of didymo could
have on their lives, whether impacting on their:
Sporting activities
Leisure activities
The regions where they live
The research also identified that is was
important to emphasise that the government
and MAFBNZ recognise the seriousness of the
didymo problem and are committed to tackling
the problem, so freshwater users did not feel
the burden was too great and the cause
ultimately pointless.
Barriers
Despite the different mind sets of freshwater
users, two common barriers were identified:
Didymo is a microscopic algae (until it
blooms), which makes it difficult for people
to believe it is present, and because they
cannot see it, it is hard for freshwater users
to understand they must Check, Clean, Dry
every time they move between waterways
MAFBNZ wanted to design a social marketing
programme that took a community-based
approach to target high-risk water user groups.
This would involve working through the people
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and organisations they connect with, the
publications they read, the waterways they use,
and events they attend, while the message
could be reinforced to the general public
through mainstream media and traveller
publications, locations and events.
spread of invasive and unpleasant
freshwater aquatic pests such as didymo
We are all guardians of our rivers and lakes
– we need to make every effort to stop
freshwater aquatic pests from spreading
and encourage others to do the same
You can help protect our waterways from
aquatic pests if you Check, Clean, Dry any
gear that comes into contact with the water,
between every waterway you use
Even if didymo is not known to be in your
area you still need to Check, Clean, Dry
between waterways
Human activity provides the greatest risk of
spreading didymo and other freshwater
pests
You could be prosecuted and fined for
knowingly spreading didymo and other
freshwater pests
Importantly, these messages are not static and
can be updated depending on new information
and audience needs.
These messages are supported with the
following interventions:
Messaging
The following messages underpin all
communications to stakeholders and the
general public. They were tested with the target
audiences (by activity type) and with partners
and stakeholders, and refined accordingly:
Most people are actively doing the right
thing to slow the spread of didymo (and
recently other freshwater pests as well) by
Checking, Cleaning, Drying between fresh
waterways – we need to keep it up so our
precious lakes and rivers stay free of these
pests
Our enjoyment of our fresh waterways
depends on us all helping to slow the
Partnerships
The campaign utilises partnerships with
numerous local and regional councils,
environmental agencies, and community and
sporting groups in the North and South Island,
including kayak clubs, fishing clubs and rowing
clubs. A stakeholder engagement plan was put
together to identify how these different
stakeholders can contribute to the programme
and what their information and resource needs
are to:
Ensure all stakeholders have easy access
to timely and relevant information and are
aware of programme objectives,
implementation and outcomes
Continue to actively seek, listen to and act
on feedback from stakeholders, partners
and water users
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Actively work to broaden the network of
stakeholders
Actively work to build and maintain political
support and buy-in for Check, Clean, Dry
Ensure lines of communication and
accountability are clear and feedback
channels efficient
Emphasise the penalties for noncompliance (where relevant)
Resources and tools
The campaign sought to develop and distribute
resources and tools that would overcome the
barriers to checking, cleaning and drying
equipment and clothing between waterways,
which were identified in the scoping phase.
The resources and tools developed promote
the fact that good planning makes the need to
Check, Clean, Dry less time consuming. For
instance, if a freshwater user is only using one
waterway every weekend, then the majority of
equipment will have time to dry before moving
to another waterway.
(including beach houses and Department of
Conservation huts), thus overcoming the
barrier of perceived difficult access to and high
cost of cleaning solutions.
Resources, tools and promotional giveaways
were developed, including:
Information packs (including leaflets,
stickers and pens)
Detergent sachets (using biodegradable
detergent to overcome fears that detergents
to clean equipment would be harmful to the
environment)
Spray bottles
Cleaning station signage
Bumper stickers
Key rings
Water bottles
Branded jelly beans
Branded sunscreen
Practical demonstrations
The team identified local events, such as
rowing meets, jet boat marathons and boat
shows, to provide practical demonstrations on
how to Check, Clean, Dry specific equipment
and clothing. Alongside promotional giveaways,
materials were developed for such events,
including a Check, Clean, Dry branded tent,
flags and pull-up banners.
To overcome the fears that cleaning solutions
would damage equipment, the campaign
recommends several different cleaning
solutions so that people can choose one that
suits their activity and equipment. For instance,
rafters do not use dishwashing detergent as it
becomes very slippery and can instead use a
salt water solution. In general detergents are
recommended because it can be bought
cheaply and is available at many places
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Funding for local activities
Funding is provided to help regional council’s
organisations coordinate their own Check,
Clean, Dry promotional activities, to contribute
towards a nationally coordinated approach.
clothing. Utilising organisations that are trusted
information sources also ensures this message
is sustainable, as it becomes embedded into
their communications with their members.
Advertising
Advertising through targeted media is used to
reach appropriate audiences. These include
signage by waterways, advertising on ferries
and at ferry terminals, radio communications
and newspaper advertising.
Targeted messaging for tourists
A range of information is provided to tourists
visiting New Zealand, including at airports
(such as signage on baggage carousels),
information on the Ministry of Agriculture and
Forestry website, information distributed via the
tourism industry and organisations, and
changes to the arrivals declaration card to
include declaration of freshwater equipment,
information and collateral for arriving
passengers with freshwater equipment.
Before the didymo science programme was set
up, the expectation for the campaign was to
influence behaviour to stop the spread of
didymo. However, by the time the social
marketing campaign was launched in 2005/06,
this focus was on slowing the spread of
didymo, as research made it clear that stopping
the spread of didymo completely would not be
possible.
A key aspect of the campaign has been
working with organisations trusted by
freshwater users. By disseminating the Check,
Clean, Dry message through such
organisations it has become almost taboo not
to Check, Clean, Dry one’s equipment and
The role of partners was further strengthened
in late 2008 with the establishment of the
Check, Clean, Dry Advisory Group (CCDAG),
which involves partner organisations from both
North Island and South Island, including the
Department of Conservation, Fish and Game
New Zealand, the Maori Trust and related
industries. The CCDAG has input into the
direction of the campaign and its
implementation, focused on developing and
distributing tools and collateral that will meet
the needs of partner organisations and assist
them in extending the programme through their
own promotional and enforcement activities.
Events involving discussions and
demonstrations on how to Clean, Check, Dry
have been very successful in reaching people.
This work has been particularly successful, as
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it is supported by research with specific
audiences and activities. The messages and
communications at such events can be tailored
according to which activity group will be
attending, to ensure the information is relevant
and will resonate with the audience.
to ensure this important stakeholder is satisfied
with all materials produced.
An important part of the campaign to ensure its
continued success has been the ongoing
research and evaluation programme, which
feeds back into further developments of the
campaign. This allows for continual
improvement and makes sure that the
campaign keeps in touch with the attitudes of
the target audiences. For instance, initially
there was a big focus on freshwater fishers as
a high-risk audience. However, as the
campaign has progressed, this group has
become more of an advocate for the message
and is highly compliant. This means that
messages to freshwater fishers no longer need
to focus on getting them to Check, Clean, Dry –
instead, this audience is encouraged to
promote this message to others.
One initiative that had to be scaled back was
the use of cleaning stations. Initially a number
of cleaning stations were set up in key
locations near rivers, lakes and other
waterways. However, these proved hard to
maintain, so the number of cleaning stations
was reduced to a few of the most used
waterways.
The Check, Clean, Dry campaign is evaluated
by an annual survey that measures attitudes
and reported behaviour change, alongside
tracking studies of how far and wide didymo
has spread within New Zealand waterways.
One problem that arose was that the
development of a poster that resonated with
the audience was later objected to by the
tourism industry. The poster showed a bungee
jumper covered in didymo, to show how the
spread of didymo could impact on this popular
recreational activity. However, because bungee
jumping is particularly popular with tourists, the
Tourism Association felt this impacted
negatively on New Zealand’s reputation as a
tourist destination. As a result, all further testing
of materials has involved the tourism industry
2009/10 results
The most recent research conducted by
research agency Synovate in June 2010
concluded that the Check, Clean, Dry
campaign has been successful in changing
attitudes and behaviours of New Zealand’s
fresh waterway users.
To date, the spread of didymo has slowed and
there is yet to be a reporting of didymo in the
North Island.
People are Checking, Cleaning and Drying
more often. 88 per cent of high-risk freshwater
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users (averaged across activities) were able to
identify an action they take to help stop the
spread of didymo. Of those, 71 per cent always
Check, Clean, Dry, and 21 per cent sometimes
Check, Clean, Dry. Other behaviours people
have adopted include using different equipment
(such as waders and fishing rods) between
different waterways.
There is a correlation between the social
marketing campaign’s outputs and the desired
behaviour: 98 per cent of people who always
Check, Clean, Dry, and 95 per cent of people
who sometimes Check, Clean, Dry, have seen
promotional items or received information from
the campaign.
The measurement relies on self-reported
behaviour change. But even so, there has been
a significant improvement in people at least
reporting that they do Check, Clean, Dry, with
22 per cent of respondents reporting they are
more vigilant than they were a year ago.
The proportions of high-risk freshwater users
who state they think about how they can
personally stop the spread of didymo, who
state they have taken actions to do so, and
who state they always make an effort to Check,
Clean, Dry have all shown improvement yearon-year between 2006 and 2009.
Value for money
An Economic Impact Assessment (EIA) of the
Check, Clean, Dry campaign in March 2006
projected that as a result of the North Island
staying free of didymo, the cost-saving to New
Zealand was an estimated NZ$11 million up to
June 2008. The cost of the Check, Clean, Dry
campaign interventions from 2005 to 2008 was
NZ$5 million. Therefore the cost-saving to New
Zealand by delaying the spread of didymo to
the North Island is estimated to be NZ$2.15 for
every NZ$1 spent on the campaign. If the North
Island remains free of didymo to June 2012,
the ratio is estimated to be NZ$7.61 for every
NZ$1 spent.
Partnerships and sharing learning are vital for
the success of the campaign. For this reason
the campaign works to ensure that all partner
organisations are kept up-to-date, can provide
feedback on how the campaign is doing, and
continue to have input into the direction of the
campaign through the following channels and
networks:
The Check, Clean, Dry Advisory Group
The Biosecurity Managers Group
The Didymo Long-Term Management
Steering Group
The Regional Council Communications
Group
The didymo.net online portal
Relevant publications, such as Biosecurity
magazine and the Biosecurity Institute’s
Protect newsletter
Monthly telephone conferences
Regional meetings
While the campaign has previously focused on
kayakers, fishermen, anglers and jet-boaters as
the four high-risk freshwater users, research
from 2009/10 supports an expansion of the
campaign to include other audiences such as
trampers (hikers) and four-wheel drivers.
Further research will help to support tailored
communications for these additional target
audiences.
While the Check, Clean, Dry campaign was
initiated to combat the spread of didymo, it is
now working to stand alongside and enhance
other freshwater pest programmes already in
place. The focus of the Check, Clean, Dry
campaign is to get users of freshwater systems
to Check, Clean, Dry when moving between
waterways and this hygiene behaviour applies
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to other freshwater pests as well as didymo.
Reducing the spread of other freshwater pests
supports the campaign’s message that the
Check, Clean, Dry behaviour should be carried
out every time freshwater users go between
waterways.
Partnerships
Working in a partnership has been essential for
the campaign. However this has meant that
making decisions takes longer. All partners,
both within government and industry, have
different drivers and organisational focuses.
There is, however, common ground in that all
want to achieve the same thing, which is to
stop the spread of didymo (and more recently
all freshwater pests). After early ‘negotiations’,
everyone has worked well together, sharing
resources, funding, staff, ideas, equipment,
suppliers and branding.
Placating concerns
There were concerns that the Check, Clean,
Dry campaign was not working, as didymo was
spreading around the South Island. This was
due to didymo being able to be spread by a
single drop of water rather than any failings in
the campaign. Explaining that the campaign is
trying to change behaviours (by getting people
to Check, Clean Dry every time they move
between waterways) and by focusing on
freshwater hygiene and all freshwater pests
(not just didymo) has helped reduce concerns.
Lessons learned
Tackling confusion
The fact that didymo is a microscopic organism
has caused some confusion. Many people
believed that they could tell if a waterway was
infected or not by looking and so were selfassessing the waterways. Others wanted the
campaign to list all waterways that had didymo,
but because testing is difficult, expensive and
infrequent this is not possible. Subsequently,
the campaign continues to emphasise that
people should treat all waterways as though
they have freshwater pests.
Lack of enforcement
One major obstacle has been the lack of any
practical enforcement measures available to
work alongside the social marketing campaign.
There is still a small noncompliant audience
that may respond to enforcement measures,
but enforcement is very difficult for an issue like
this.
Combating complacency
The original assessment of didymo and the
damage it could cause was based on the worst
case scenario, and some of the issues did not
arise. This led to some complacency: ‘didymo
is not as bad as we first thought it would be’.
The campaign has attempted to tackle this with
the information that there were also things that
Partner organisations are being further
encouraged, and where possible supported, to
extend the Check, Clean, Dry message in ways
that make it relevant to their own regions and
audiences through, for example, tailored
regional collateral.
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did occur that had not been envisaged, such as
damage to irrigation pumps, movement
controls of fish stocks and gravel, and
problems with power generators.
In addition, the fact that didymo has not been
detected in the North Island has created some
apathy in that part of the country. The
campaign is dealing with this by focusing on
other North Island freshwater pests.
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